US 2001/0042826 A1 · Miniature micromachined quadrupole mass spectrometer array and method of making the same

Abstract

The present invention provides a quadrupole mass spectrometer and an ion filter, or pole array, for use in the quadrupole mass spectrometer. The ion filter includes a thin patterned layer including a two-dimensional array of poles forming one or more quadrupoles. The patterned layer design permits the use of very short poles and with a very dense spacing of the poles, so that the ion filter may be made very small. Also provided is a method for making the ion filter and the quadrupole mass spectrometer. The method involves forming the patterned layer of the ion filter in such a way that as the poles of the patterned layer are formed, they have the relative positioning and alignment for use in a final quadrupole mass spectrometer device.

Claims27

Dependent claims

A method of mass-filtering an ion beam, the method comprising:

(a) receiving the ion beam through an entrance device with at least one entrance aperture;
(b) providing at least a pair of facing micromachined conducting rods with an entrance side and an exit side, the entrance side of the conducting rods adjacent the entrance apertures;
(c) exiting said ion beam as mass-filtered ions through an exit device located at a distal end from the entrance device and adjacent the exit side of the conducting rods and having at least one exit aperture;
(d) spacing the conducting rods from the entrance device and spacing the conducting rods from the exit device using spacers;
and
(e) receiving the mass-filtered ions by a detector.

3 more elements

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.

Facts

Application

09/892,313Filed 26 Jun 2001

Priority

8 Feb 2000

Published

22 Nov 2001

Term ends

Not estimatedThe source records don’t support an estimate.

Classification7 codes

H01J 49/4215
Mass filters, i.e. deviating unwanted ions without trapping: quadrupole mass filters
H01J 49/0018
Miniaturised spectrometers, e.g. having smaller than usual scale, integrated conventional components: microminiaturised spectrometers, e.g.…
H01J 49/009
Combinations of spectrometers, tandem spectrometers, e.g. MS/MS, MSn: spectrometers having multiple channels, parallel analysis
Y10S 977/773
Nanostructure: nanoparticle, i.e. structure having three dimensions of 100 nm or less

Miniature micromachined quadrupole mass spectrometer array and method of making the same

Life of this patent

Miniature micromachined quadrupole mass spectrometer array and method of making the same

Life of this patent

Abstract

Claims27